Jalda Rebling (born 1951 in Amsterdam) is a German

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...

. A year after birth, she and her parents moved to East Germany in 1952. Her parents survived the Holocaust, and Rebling's mother and aunt,

Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper Marianne "Janny" (or "Jannie") Brandes-Brilleslijper (24 October 1916 – 15 August 2003) was a Dutch Holocaust survivor and one of the last people to see Anne Frank. She is the sister of singer Lin Jaldati (born Rebekka Brilleslijper; 1912&nd ...

, were the first to tell Otto Frank of his daughters' deaths. Her mother Rebekka Brilleslijper, also known as

Lin Jaldati Lin Jaldati (born Rebekka Brilleslijper; 13 December 1912 – 31 August 1988) was a Dutch-born, East German-based Yiddish singer. She was a Holocaust survivor, and one of the last people to see Anne Frank. After the war she published an article, " ...

, was a well-known singer of Yiddish music while her father,

Eberhard Rebling Eberhard Rebling (4 December 1911 – 2 August 2008) was a German pianist, musicologist and dance scholar as well as an anti-fascism, anti fascist. Life Childhood and young adult Born in Berlin, Rebling, who came from a Prussian officer's ...

, was a musicologist. Her sister Kathinka Rebling is also a musicologist. In 1987 Rebling helped organize a Yiddish culture festival in Germany, which occurred every year into the 1990s. Rebling herself eventually became one of the best known Yiddish singers in united postwar Germany. She also acted in Yiddish at the Hackischer Hoftheater. In 1979 the Anne Frank Kindergarten in Berlin had Rebling and her mother perform for the fiftieth anniversary of Anne Frank’s birth; the production was shown on GDR TV and sold as a record, and it became the family’s signature production on tour. They performed it at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

in Jerusalem, and Rebling noted that while “we sang in Yiddish, there was also a German song by Paul Dessau. In fact, we brought the first two pieces of German-language music into Yad Vashem.” Rebling wrote "Yiddish Culture — a Soul Survivor of East Germany," which was included in the book ''Speaking Out: Jewish Voices from United Germany,'' published in 1995. In 2007 she became the first openly lesbian cantor ordained by the

Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal () is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, ...

movement. That year she also became the first woman to lead the

High Holiday The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jewi ...

services in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

, Sweden. She also led the first egalitarian service in the traditional Jewish community of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. In a Norwegian synagogue of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, she became the first Jewish female cantor who (together with Rabbi

Lynn Feinberg Lynn Claire Feinberg (born 1955) became the first female rabbi in Norway in 2009. She was born in Oslo. She is an adherent of Jewish Renewal, and is the founder and spiritual leader of Havurat Kol haLev, the first Jewish Renewal havurah A ''chavura ...

) led Shabbat Services and read the Torah in public. In 2009 and 2011 she performed during the Program in Jewish Studies’ Week of Jewish Culture at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, Boulder. She is now the cantor (and one of the founders) of Ohel Hachidusch, "The Tent of Renewal", Berlin's Jewish Renewal community. She lives in Germany with her partner, Anna Adam, and three sons.

Discography

* ''Ir me quiero'', 1988 * ''Di goldene pawe'', 1991 * ''An alter nign'', 1997 * ''Juden in Deutschland 1250 - 1750'', 1993 * ''Juden im Mittelalter - aus Sepharad und Ashkenas'', 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebling, Jalda 1951 births Living people Dutch emigrants to East Germany 20th-century Dutch Jews Hazzans LGBT clergy in Judaism German LGBT singers Dutch LGBT musicians Musicians from Amsterdam Women hazzans Anne Frank